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Police on hunt for armed robber who hit businesses

Beaverton, Sherwood cases may be the work of same man

Police in Beaverton and Sherwood are investigating the possibility that one man might be responsible for a string of armed robberies that hit businesses in both cities.

'Police are looking into the similarities between the crimes that occurred in Sherwood and here because of the types of businesses targeted and description of the suspect,' said Officer Mark Hyde, Beaverton police spokesman.

On Monday, a man in his early 20s reportedly robbed Beaverton's Honeycut and Company hair salon at gunpoint.

Late last week, a man with a similar description also robbed a sandwich shop and a hair salon in Sherwood.

In Beaverton, police said that at 11:44 a.m. Monday, the suspect walked into the Honeycut and Company salon at 14328 S.W. Allen Blvd., pointed a black handgun at a female employee and whispered his demand that she open the cash register.

When she complied, the suspect reportedly used his free hand to reach into the cash drawer and snatch $67, pointing the gun at the employee the entire time.

The man walked out of the business and headed toward the building's east parking lot.

The school buildings and Resource Center were reopened a short time later when the suspect could not be found.

Police said the man wore blue jeans, a black jacket and a fisherman's hat pulled to the top of his eyebrows.

The employee also reported that the suspect had paced in front of the store for about five minutes an hour before the robbery.

On Wednesday, Sherwood police released a composite sketch of a suspect, matching the description of the young white man, based on witnesses from the two Sherwood robberies.

The first robbery in Sherwood occurred Thursday morning at the Subway sandwich shop on Southwest Langer Drive. The suspect, reportedly a man between 18 and 24, pulled a black revolver from his hooded sweatshirt and demanded money from the cashier.

The scene was caught on the store's video surveillance camera.

The second robbery occurred Friday afternoon at a Hair Masters salon on Roy Rogers Road. The suspect reportedly also used a black-colored handgun when he demanded money from a store employee.

'The descriptions sound very much the same,' said Sherwood police Det. Sgt. Dwight Onchi. 'And it sounds like he's gotten more aggressive.'

Onchi noted that in the second robbery, the suspect pointed the handgun directly in the face of the female cashier when she had difficulty opening the till.